Modi will not come for inauguration

Ranchi: Chief minister Narendra Modi, who is also the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association, has decided against coming here for the inauguration of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA)'s International Stadium.

The inauguration is scheduled for Friday evening and Modi was to have landed just an hour or so before the start of the function.

Modi conveyed his regrets on Thursday morning, apparently because his own partymen in Jharkhand "advised" that he shouldn't come at a time the state is set for President's Rule.

It's only a matter of hours before the state again comes under President's Rule.

Last week, the Arjun Munda government was reduced to a minority after the withdrawl of support to the BJP by Shibu Soren's JMM.

The Congress, in any case, had made the invitation an issue ' linking cricket to politics. But Modi had been invited in his capacity as the president of an affiliate of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.